The Parisian Christmas Bake Off - Jenny Oliver

About the book…

Welcome to the most celebrated patisserie competition in Paris – ready, steady, bake!

Watching snowflakes settle on the Eiffel Tower, Rachel Smithson’s cosy English village feels very far way – as, thankfully, does her commitment-phobic ex, probably already kissing someone else under the mistletoe. But Rachel hasn’t come to Paris to mope she’s come to bake. Hard.

Because the search for Paris’s next patisserie apprentice is about to begin! And super-chef judge Henri Salernes is an infamously tough cookie. But Rachel isn’t about to let her confidence (or pastry) crumble. She’s got one week, mounds of melt-in-the-mouth macaroons and towers of perfect profiteroles to prove that she really is a star baker.

As well as clouds of flour, and wafts of chocolate and cinnamon, there’s definitely a touch of Christmas magic in the air… Rachel hasn’t come to Paris looking for a fairy-tale romance, but the city of love might gift-wrap her one anyway…

Not even a dusting of icing sugar could make The Parisian Christmas Bake-Off a more perfect Christmas treat!

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About the author… 

Jenny Oliver wrote her first book on holiday when she was ten years old. Illustrated with cut-out supermodels from her sister’s Vogue, it was an epic, sweeping love story not so loosely based on Dynasty. Since then Jenny has gone on to get an English degree, a Masters, and a job in publishing that’s taught her what it takes to write a novel (without the help of the supermodels). She wrote The Parisian Christmas Bake Off on the beach in a sea-soaked, sand-covered notebook. This time the inspiration was her addiction to macaroons, the belief she can cook them and an all-consuming love of Christmas. When the decorations go up in October, that’s fine with her!

My thoughts…

I had an e-copy of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review. I loved the sound of the book and it didn't disappoint. What a lovely read. The only problem with this book is the desire to dash out and buy cakes. I could feel myself gaining weight with every page turn of the page.

Rachel is working as a teacher, a job she enjoys and hasn't baked since her mum died. It was a shared passion and she can't bring herself to do it alone. Her friends have other ideas though and send her off to Paris to enter a bake-off competition - they know her better than she does herself it seems.

Arriving in Paris for a competition she didnt want to enter with the prospect of a xmas alone didn't instil much happiness for me. So it was lovely to watch Rachel's character change throughout the book. Gaining confidence with every new challenge presented to her. It really is an excellent, pre-christmas, feel good book and Jenny certainly got the mix right. Delicious sights and sounds of the most romantic city in the world, girl meets boy, delicious food with a sprinkling of snow.

I'll definitely be looking out for more books by Jenny Oliver and recommend this book to anyone wanting a tasty little read - you don't have to be a cake maker to enjoy this book!!